plebs
English
editEtymology
editFrom Latin plēbs (“the plebeian class”), variant of earlier plēbēs. Later also understood as the plural of pleb.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editplebs
Noun
editplebs pl (plural only)
- (historical) The plebeian class of Ancient Rome.
- Synonym: plebeiate
- c. 1588–1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], line 92:
- Why I am going with my pidgeons to the tribunall Plebs.
- The common people, especially (derogatory) the mob.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:commonalty
- a. 1657, George Daniel, "The Author" in Poems, Vol. II, p. 131:
- 1993, Max Cavalera, "Refuse/Resist", Sepultura, Chaos A.D.
- Chaos A.D. / Tanks On The Streets / Confronting Police / Bleeding The Plebs
- 2000, James Fentress, chapter 1, in Rebels & Mafiosi: Death in a Sicilian Landscape:
- The history of Palermo was punctuated by such uprisings; when they happened, the great barons simply fled to the safety of their country villas, leaving the urban plebs free to sack their palaces in the city.
- 2009, Erica Benner, chapter 8, in Machiavelli's Ethics:
- The lesser plebs are not unscrupulous troublemakers.
Usage notes
editAlthough the Latin plebs was usually declined as a singular group noun, English plebs is usually treated as grammatically plural in all its senses.
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
edit
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References
edit- “plebs, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, September 2006.
Czech
editNoun
editplebs m inan
Declension
editRelated terms
editFurther reading
editDutch
editEtymology
editPronunciation
editNoun
editplebs n (uncountable)
- (derogatory) plebs, rabble, riffraff
- Synonyms: gepeupel, gespuis, grauw, tuig van de richel
- (historical) plebs, commoners (non-aristocratic class in ancient Rome, esp. during the Roman Republic)
Related terms
editLatin
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Old Latin plēbēs, from Proto-Italic *plēðwēs (whence Oscan 𐌐𐌋𐌝𐌚𐌓𐌉𐌊𐌔 (plífriks, “plebeian”, nom. sg.) via *plēðros), from Proto-Indo-European *pl̥h₁dʰwḗh₁s ~ *pl̥h₁dʰuh₁és (whence Ancient Greek πληθῡ́ς (plēthū́s, “crowd”)) from *pleh₁- (“fill”), whence pleō. See also populus.
Pronunciation
edit- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /pleːbs/, [pɫ̪eːps̠]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /plebs/, [plɛbs]
Noun
editplēbs f (genitive plēbis); third declension
- (countable and uncountable) plebeians, common people
Declension
editThird-declension noun (i-stem or imparisyllabic non-i-stem).
Case | Singular | Plural |
---|---|---|
Nominative | plēbs | plēbēs |
Genitive | plēbis | plēbium plēbum |
Dative | plēbī | plēbibus |
Accusative | plēbem | plēbēs plēbīs |
Ablative | plēbe | plēbibus |
Vocative | plēbs | plēbēs |
The non-i-stem variant is found in Medieval Latin.
Derived terms
editDescendants
edit- Emilian: pev
- Friulian: plef, plêv
- Italian: pieve
- Ladin: plief, plieu, pieue, plié
- Ligurian: chieve
- Old Occitan: pleu
- Piedmontese: piev
- Romansch: plaif, plaiv
- Venetian: piove
From *plēbānus:
- Friulian: plevan
- Italian: piovano
- Ladin: pluvan, ploan
- Piedmontese: piovan
- Romansch: plevon, plavan
- Venetian: plavan (Muggia)
Early borrowings:
- → Proto-Brythonic: *pluɨβ (from the plural)
Modern borrowings:
References
edit- “plebs”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “plebs”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- plebs in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
- plebs in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
- Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
- one of the people: homo plebeius, de plebe
- to get oneself admitted as a plebeian: traduci ad plebem (Att. 1. 18. 4)
- to transfer oneself from the patrician to the plebeian order: transitio ad plebem (Brut. 16. 62)
- to transfer oneself from the patrician to the plebeian order: traductio ad plebem
- to stir up the lower classes: plebem concitare, sollicitare
- to hold the people in one's power, in check: plebem continere
- (ambiguous) the dregs of the people: faex populi, plebis, civitatis
- (ambiguous) a demagogue, agitator: plebis dux, vulgi turbator, civis turbulentus, civis rerum novarum cupidus
- (ambiguous) the plebeian tribunes, whose persons are inviolable: tribuni plebis sacrosancti (Liv. 3. 19. 10)
- (ambiguous) to appeal to the plebeian tribunes against a praetor's decision: appellare tribunos plebis (in aliqua re a praetore) (Liv. 2. 55)
- one of the people: homo plebeius, de plebe
- “plebs”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
- Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1911) “plēbs”, in Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), page 494
- Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “plēbs”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 9: Placabilis–Pyxis, page 55
Polish
editEtymology
editLearned borrowing from Latin plēbs.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editplebs m inan
- (collective, derogatory) plebs (common people, hoi polloi, the mob)
- (collective, historical, Ancient Rome) plebs (plebeian class of Ancient Rome)
Declension
editFurther reading
edit- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *pleh₁-
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ɛbz
- Rhymes:English/ɛbz/1 syllable
- English non-lemma forms
- English noun forms
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English pluralia tantum
- English terms with historical senses
- English terms with quotations
- English derogatory terms
- en:Roman Empire
- Czech lemmas
- Czech nouns
- Czech masculine nouns
- Czech inanimate nouns
- Czech masculine inanimate nouns
- Czech hard masculine inanimate nouns
- Dutch terms borrowed from Latin
- Dutch terms derived from Latin
- Dutch terms with IPA pronunciation
- Dutch terms with audio links
- Dutch lemmas
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch uncountable nouns
- Dutch neuter nouns
- Dutch derogatory terms
- Dutch terms with historical senses
- Latin terms derived from Old Latin
- Latin terms inherited from Proto-Italic
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Latin terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- Latin terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Latin 1-syllable words
- Latin terms with IPA pronunciation
- Latin lemmas
- Latin nouns
- Latin third declension nouns
- Latin feminine nouns in the third declension
- Latin feminine nouns
- Latin countable nouns
- Latin uncountable nouns
- Latin words in Meissner and Auden's phrasebook
- Polish terms derived from Old Latin
- Polish terms derived from Proto-Italic
- Polish terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- Polish terms borrowed from Latin
- Polish learned borrowings from Latin
- Polish terms derived from Latin
- Polish 1-syllable words
- Polish terms with IPA pronunciation
- Polish terms with audio links
- Rhymes:Polish/ɛps
- Rhymes:Polish/ɛps/1 syllable
- Polish lemmas
- Polish nouns
- Polish masculine nouns
- Polish inanimate nouns
- Polish collective nouns
- Polish derogatory terms
- Polish terms with historical senses
- pl:Ancient Rome
- Polish singularia tantum
- pl:Collectives